Wallet guard



June 21, 1960 R. F. NELSON WALLET GUARD Filed'Spt. 12, 1958 INVENTOR WALLET GUARD Raymond F. Nelson, 96 /2 Swanwick Ave., Toronto 13, Ontario, Canada Filed Sept. 12, 1958, Ser. No. 760,666

3 Claims. c1. 24 s My invention relates to improvements in pocket guards and provides an improved device of this character for use in precluding a wallet from being surreptitiously removed from the pocket.

According to my invention there is provided a wallet guard comprising a locking device having co-acting hook elements which are inturned toward each other and locked on opposite edge portions of the fold section of a wallet and carried by an extensile support which is attached to the wall portion of the pocket so that the wallet cannot be removed from the pocket except by releasing the hook elements from their locked condition and spreading V the extensile support to disengage the hook elements. A

distinctive feature is that the extensile support is made up of telescopic members provided with a locking device by which hook elements are locked on the wallet. A further distinctive feature is that the support is hingedly connected to an attachment plate which is supplied with a clasp for securing it to the material of a pocket. Desirably a clip is provided on the attachment plate so that the telescopic support may be secured in folded condition when the guard device is not in use.

The wallet guard is inexpensive to manufacture and occupies but little space in a pocket, and by virtue of its construction and arrangement enables the wallet to be removed from a pocket by the owner with facility as occasion may require.

Having briefly recounted the nature of my invention reference will now be made to the ensuing specification and drawings, wherein a selected embodiment of the invention is described and illustrated.v

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 depicts a pocket of a garment partly broken away and showing the wallet guard secured to a wall of the pocket and to a wallet placed in the pocket;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the guard device in which the hook elements are brought together by the telescopic arrangement so that the telescopic support may be folded upon the attachment plate when the device is not in use;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Figure 3, showing the telescopic support which carries the hooks;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the wallet guard show ing the telescopic support folded upon the attachment plate and secured by the clip;

Fig. 6 is a cross-section on line 66 of Figure 5;

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional detail showing a tongue on the attachment plate in the manner in which it is used to secure the plate to a wall portion of the pocket.

The guard device is intended to be used inside a pocket of a garment such as the pocket denoted at P in Figs. 1 and 2, which may be, for example, a hip pocket of a pair of trousers denoted at T. The mouth of the pocket is indicated at M and the guard device which is generally denoted at G in Figs. 1 and 2 is placed well within the confines of the mouth portion of the pocket and is secured to the wallet W which is of the usual variety having parts which fold together at a fold section indi-' cated at S. The edges of this fold section are indicated at E in Fig. 1.

The guard device comprises a hook support made up of telescopic members one of which is a tubular rod 8 and the other of which is a slide rod 9 which is telescopically fitted in part 8. The tubular rod is supplied with an inturned hook 10 which is rigid therewith and this hook is adapted to engage in an edge portion E of the fold section S of the wallet.

The slide rod 9 is supplied'with an inturned hook 11 I likewise adapted to engage in an edge portion E of the fold section S of the wallet. The inwardly directed first hook element 10 co-acts with the second inwardly directed hook element 11 to attach the wallet to the guard device. In applying the I guard to the wallet, the slide rod is extended as indicated in dash lines in Fig. 1, and then the wallet is disposed with its fold section engaged with the hook 10, whereupon the slide rod is pushed in to engage the book 11 in the fold'section at the opposite side edge of the wallet.

A locking device is provided to secure the slide rod 7 in retracted position and this locking device comprises a resilient catch 12, riveted or otherwise secured to the wardly to bring about the locking engagement of the hook elements. The catch device is given by way of example but not of limitation as it will be manifest that modification in this respect may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention.

An abutment is provided on the inner end of the tu bular rod 8 and this is supplied by a diametrical reduction, of the inner end of the rod 8 which provides an axial passage for the slide rod but prohibits the head portion from passing through the passage when the slide rod is pulled outwardly.

The tubular rod 8 is connected to an attachment plate 17 preferably by a pivotal connection 18 which allows the hook support assembly to swing. When not in use the tubular rod 8 along with the slide rod 9 may be swung down to a folded position overlying the attachment plate 17 and there is provided a clip 19 by which the tubular rod may be retained in folded condition, as shown in Figure 5.

Various expedients may be resorted to for detachably securing the plate 17 to "a wall portion of the pocket. One way of accomplishing this is to provide a tongue 20 extending longitudinally of the plate and cut from the material thereof with a base portion 21 and a gripping end 22. The gripping end 22 may be supplied with teeth 23, normally residing in the plane of the plate and within the confines of an opening 24.

The plate may be made of spring material so that the tongue may be of a resilient character so that it may be sprung upwardly away from the plane of the plate as shown in Fig. 7. The plate is attached by pressing ma terial 25 of the pocket Wall in the opening 24 so that it may be gripped by the tooth-end of the tongue 20. This provides a very firm and reliable attachment.

Assuming that the plate is secured in the pocket by means of the tongue, the Wallet can be easily attached to the guard device by applying the hooks of the rod 8 Patented June 21, 1960 i facture. in may be used for a billfold or pocket bookin addition to a wallet.

The advantages and utility of the guard device will be understood and appreciated from the preceding description and it will be manifest that such changes and variations in structure may be resorted to as fairly come within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A wallet guard comprising a tubular rod having an inner end and an outer end, said inner end having a diametrical reduction forming an abutment surrounding a central opening, an inwardly-directed first hook element rigidly carried by said outer end of said tubular rod for engaging an edge portion of the fold section of a wallet, an inwardly-directed second hook element for engaging the opposite edge portion of the fold section of the wallet, a slide rod having an outer part rigid with said second book element and having an inner part freely extending through said central opening and telescopably engaged in said tubular rod, an enlargement on said inner part of said slide rod,.a resilient catch on said tubular rod having a detent extending through a hole in said tubular rod and having locking engagement with said enlargement to preclude disengagement of said hook elements from the fold section of said wallet, an attachment plate pivotally connected to said outer end of said tubular rod and enabling said tubular rod to fold thereon, and means for retaining said tubular rod in folded condition on said attachment plate, and means carried by said attachment plate for removably securing it to a garment pocket in which the wallet is carried.

2. A wallet guard comprising a tubular rod having an inner end and an outer end, said inner end having a dimetrical reduction forming an abutment surrounding a central opening, an inwardly-directed first hook element rigidly carried by said outer end of said tubular rod for engaging an edge portion of the fold section of a wallet, an inwardly-directed second hook element for engaging the opposite edge portion of the fold section of the wallet, a slide rod having an outer part rigid with said second hook element and having an inner part freely extending through said central opening and telescopably engaged in said tubular rod, an enlargement on said inner part of said slide rod, a resilient catch on said tubular rod having a detent extending through a hole in said tubular rod and having locking engagement with said enlargement to preclude disengagement of said hook elements from the fold section of said wallet, an attachment plate pivotally connected to said outer end of said tubular rod and enabling said tubular rod to fold thereon, a clip for retaining said tubular rod in folded con- I dition on said attachment plate, and means carried by said attachment plate for removably securing it to a garment pocket in which the Wallet is carried.

3. A wallet guard comprising a tubular rod having an inner end and an outer end, said inner end having a diametrical reduction forming an abutment surrounding a central opening, an inwardly-directed first hook element rigidly carried by said outer end of said tubular rod for engaging an edge portion of the fold section of a wallet, an inwardly-directed second hook element for engaging the opposite edge portion of the fold section of the wallet, a slide rod having an outer part rigid with said second hook element and having an inner part freely extending through said central opening and telescopably engaged in said tubular rod, an enlargement on said inner part of said slide rod, a resilient catch on said tubular rod having a detent extending through a hole in said tubular rod and having locking engagement with said enlargement to preclude disengagement of said hook elements from the fold section of said wallet, an attachment plate pivotally connected to said outer end of said tubular rod and enabling said tubular rod to fold thereon, a clip for retaining said tubular rod in folded condition on said attachment plate, and a material gripping device on said attachment plate for securing it to a wall of a garment pocket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 982,242 Campbell Ian. 24, 1911 1,214,161 Hettniger et a1. Jan. 30, 1917 1,357,669 Anderson Nov. 2, 1920 1,619,390 Wolf Mar. 1, 1927 1,838,786 Pollinger Dec. 29, 1931 2,108,198 Egger Feb. 15;, 1938 2,129,018 Martini Sept, 6, 1938 2,605,136 Kline et a1. July 29, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 398,636 Germany Aug. 9, 1923 404,050 Great Britain Jan. 11, 1934 

